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Hull Damage
'''Hull Damage 'is the first volume in the Bad Space Trilogy, a spacepunk book series by Timothy J. Meyer. It was first published on June 1st, 2012. Plot Summary Part I: Crew At the Astrobounce Gentlemen's Club, the crew of ''The Unconstant Lover – Moira Quicksilver, Odisseus, Two-Bit Switch and their captain, Nehel "Nemo" Morel – are ambushed by a squad of bounty hunters, the very first of their budding piracy careers. After receiving a haranguing from Velocity, Takioro's Depot-Commissioner, the crew is offered a lucrative job from mysterious Yheum crime syndicate Huong Xo. Hired to pillage The Hourly Wage, a cargo freighter ferrying medical supplies to Danboowui, the pirates canvas the station and recruit a rogue's gallery of criminals (Danbonte, Salo Shouldermount, Rooster, Heeko, Marco the Mange, Anchorage, Glive Garrigan, Garrock Brondi, Ebeneezer and Zella) to provide additional muscle. Once they've reunited with Abraham Bonaventure, the Lover's navigator and Nemo's piratical mentor, the new crew members are sworn in and the pirates depart on their mission. The job goes off successfully, with only one major hitch. When Zella accidentally destroys all the prize ship's interior systems, Moira covertly murders her and places the blame on the Wage's former captain, Ondel Barso. When further instructions arrive from Huong Xo, however, the crew is anxious to discover they must drop their payload off with Boss Ott, Galactic Menace, on the heavily blockaded planet of Baz. Rushing to battle stations, the crew of The Unconstant Lover successfully runs the Imperium blockade in orbit around Baz and makes contact with Boss Ott. After a disquieting meeting with the Galactic Menace, in which the Wage's mysterious cargo is revealed to vast quantities of Triomman blood, the pirates are paid and sent on their way with a parting gift of doxychoraphum. Back on Takioro, Two-Bit Switch sells the repellent to his contact Eidesmoe at a great profit, Moira and Danbonte conspire to collect the bounties of their slain comrades and Nemo agrees to a courtesy job from Velocity – smuggling tje puppies off Rith. Shortly thereafter, however, Nemo is offered a second, more tantalyzing opportunity from Huong Xo – to track down and destroy some prototype starfighters stolen by one of their shell companies by fellow pirate Captain Dijiqi "Snakeeyes" Taré. Throwing Velocity's job to the wind, the Lover's crew chases down Taré, murders her and destroys her stolen starfighters, only to learn that Taré, in fact, worked for Boss Ott. A peeved Menace summons Nemo for a chat and ends up recruiting the Captain into his personal war against the Imperium for the possession of Baz and all its doxychoraphum. Part II: Captain After returning to Takioro to plan their first caper on Boss Ott's behalf, Nemo and his crew confront and eventually elude an incensed Velocity, who demands they complete the Rith smuggling job. Instead, they plan and execute a heist against one of Two-Bit Switch's former partners, the gunrunner Nabdres No-Cock, on Haess. Making off with his souped-up smuggling vessel, The Dead Messenger, they sell its cargo of assault weapons to Boss Ott, for him to arm the native population of Baz with. After selling The Dead Messenger for top dollar, the pirates become complacent in Ott's service, enjoying the many amenities of his polar fortress before they're sent on their next assignment. Ott sends Nemo and his crew to distribute the pilfered weapons among the Baziron resistance fighters on the planet's northern continent. After making successful contact with koj Hhenel and the Dancing-Horizon kojaj, things go a little south when Nemo, eager for a fight, disobeys Ott's orders and seeks out Insurgent Company in the war-torn territory of the Scream-Weed kojaj. When negotiations go ill with the pugnacious koj Pasqkla, Moira is challenged to the rite of morwaq, Heeko is slain in gladiatorial combat and Insurgent Company arrives in a sudden, unexpected ambush. Fleeing into the jungle, the disoriented pirates are forced to contend both with Baz's bloodsucking wildlife and the pursuing Imperium commandos and, with Rooster captured and Ebeneezer exsanguinated, the remainder barely escape with their lives. In short order, the Exacting Counterattack, ''the Imperial blockade's flagship, appears in the sky over Boss Ott's hidden headquarters, stopping all traffic through the polar window. After one of his captains, Kivad of ''The Yanked Chain, is destroyed attempting to unseat the Pylon, a highly displeased Ott assigns Nemo the task. Nemo's eventual plan requires a specific scramble codifier, one currently in the possession of Two-Bit's fence Eidesmoe on Takioro, and so The Unconstant Lover, ''braving the dangerous blockade run, blasts off for the Defederate Station. Upon arriving, they discover both that it's Yarba New Year and that a legion of assailants – bounty hunters, Traasha and her goons, Gozzer's hired heavies – are waiting for them. Once again, with Moira's assistance and the sacrifice of Anchorage, they just manage to escape the fracas with both their hides and the scramble codifier in tact. Part III: Vessel Returning from Takioro, the crew plans and executes Nemo's daring attack against the ''Counterattack. Despite a number of major hitches – Nemo's complete inebriation before the battle, Brondi's betrayal, mid-attack, and his theft of Abraham's Little Beggarman and the pressure helix shorting out – the plan miraculously succeeds, destroying the Pylon and plunging the lifeless Lover ''down onto the surface of Baz. ''The Unconstant Lover ''crashes to the surface of Baz near the north pole, crushing the underturret and Glive Garrigan in the process. An embittered Moira and a clueless Nemo trek out across the tundra, hoping against hope to locate Ott's hidden fortress, only to be attacked by Quuilar Noxix and his holoreality program. After a tense battle, Nemo manages to get the drop on the Yheum bounty hunter and slays him, much to his own personal satisfaction. Once returned to Ott's fortress, the ship is repaired and Moira, embittered over Garrigan's death, slays Ott in his chamber and frames Danbonte for the murder. As his criminal enterprise collapses, the crew flees Baz Danbonte is murdered by Odisseus on Nemo's orders. Only Abraham discovers Moira's deception but promises to keep quiet, agreeing that Nemo's destiny is something far greater than as Ott's pet pirate. With no other options, the crew returns to Takioro and treats with Velocity, agreeing to a great number of conditions, including the Rithese smuggling caper they've ignored for over a year now. The caper, once a simple job, turns into an utter disaster, due largely to their own neglect. Upon returning to the Bloody Afterburn, the crew agrees to never again take contracted jobs and to instead work freelance. Characters The novel is written from the perspective of three main characters and seven supporting characters, plus one omniscient third-person interlude. * Moira Quicksilver, ex-bounty hunter and first mate aboard ''The Unconstant Lover * Odisseus, Ortoki mechanic aboard The Unconstant Lover * Two-Bit Switch, cutpurse, jailbreaker, co-pilot and quartermaster aboard The Unconstant Lover * Hook the Handsome, Ufaki scrap dealer and original owner of The Unconstant Lover * Ondel Barso, captain of The Hourly Wage * Boss Ott, Galactic Menace and warlord of Baz * Abraham Bonaventure, legendary buccaneer and warp navigator aboard The Unconstant Lover * Gertie Guspatch, unemployed pirate and great admirer of Nehel Morel's * Belton Grange, technician aboard the Exacting Counterattack * Kolfo, random pedestrian on Rith References